The Policy File

Each week on the Policy File we round-up some essential weekend policy reading from around the web. This week we look at the Philippines elections, Jokowi’s second year in office, and the Manus Island ruling.

This week the Philippines headed to the polls to vote for the country’s next president. On The Wall Street Journal Trefor Moss looks at the top five things to know about the election, while Michael Joe Delizo and Emily Rauhala on The Washington Post look at the winner – authoritarian former mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Gina Apostol at the Chicago Tribune looks at the similarities between Duterte and US presidential nominee Donald Trump, while Teresa Jopson on New Mandala looks at the impact the election will have on the troubled province of Mindanao which has been wracked by insurgency and violence for four decades.

Staying with politics, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who swept to power on a wave of optimism, will celebrate his two-year anniversary in the top office next month. On Policy Forum, Colin Brown looks at whether Jokowi has lived up to voters’ high expectations, while Felix Heiduk at The Diplomat looks at Jokowi’s foreign policy strategy and relationship with ASEAN.

This week the People’s Bank of China decided to guide the Chinese currency – the yuan – higher by the biggest percentage gain (0.56 per cent) seen since 2005. Karishma Vaswani from the BBC looks at why this move could help boost China’s image in financial markets.

Gregor Stuart Hunter looks at whether Chinese currency reserves are shrinking, while Kerry Brown looks at the liberalisation of China’s currency and the good and bad that may come with it.

Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Supreme Court recently ruled that Australia’s Manus Island detention and processing centre was unconstitutional and illegal. On Devpolicy Blog Bal Kama takes a look at the history of the case, the legal issues, and the implications for Australia and PNG, while Helen Davidson on The Guardian looks at the human rights implications of the Manus Island ruling.

Investment in science, innovation, and technology in the Asia-Pacific region could be key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Shamshad Akhtar takes a look at how the appliance of science could aid economic recovery and sustainable development, while The Asia Foundation looks at the incentive to innovate and its impact on development.

Don’t forget you can debate key public policy issues by joining the Asia and the Pacific Policy Society’s LinkedIn group – a closed group exclusive to Society members. Be part of the conversation – we’ll see you there.